Tuesday, January 3, 2017

An Officer Involved in an Open Use-of-Force Lawsuit Wants to Fill Open Spot on Cleveland Community Police Commission

Lt. Paul Baeppler has graced the newsprint of Cleveland for years, and this week we've cause for another headline: Baeppler has expressed interest in filling a soon to be vacant spot on the Cleveland Community Police Commission.

That's notable, because Baeppler is currently a named defendant in an open use-of-force lawsuit in federal court and the law firm for the defendant in that case is Friedman & Gilbert. Gordon Friedman is one member of the commission.

In 2014, Kipp Holloway was shot by Sgt. Timothy Patton during a report on a robbery. Baeppler was present with Holloway. As Holloway explains in his civil complaint, he met two acquaintances who gave him a ride to a nearby RTA station. Those two men were absconding from a robbery, Holloway soon realized. He ran from the car after the driver hit a fire hydrant.

Patton and Baeppler caught up with Holloway in a garage, where Holloway said he was unarmed. Patton shot the man in the arm and "yanked [Holloway] up to his knees and forced the barrel of his weapon into Holloway's mouth," according to the lawsuit. ("The good news is he's alive and can talk about it," Holloway's attorney told Cleveland.com when the case was initially filed with the county.) Holloway says the two Cleveland police officers mocked his injuries afterward. He's also undergone at least three surgeries because of the shooting and has shrapnel in his chest, where the bullet ricocheted after hitting his arm. You can read the full complaint below.

The Holloway suit is not the only time Baeppler has been up against accusations of excessive use of force, incidentally.

A message left with members of the Cleveland Community Police Commission has not yet been returned. FOP president Brian Betley said today that he would discuss Baeppler's interest with the FOP's board.